System Architectural Styles

Pub/Sub Architecture

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LearnStep 1 of 4

What is Pub/Sub Architecture?

Learning Objectives

•Understand the Pub/Sub messaging pattern and how it differs from point-to-point queues
•Learn Pub/Sub architecture diagrams and component roles
•Compare popular Pub/Sub implementations: Kafka, RabbitMQ, AWS SNS/SQS, Google Cloud Pub/Sub
•Identify real-world use cases for the Publish-Subscribe model

Lesson Outline

LearnStep 1/4

What is Pub/Sub Architecture?

The Publish-Subscribe (Pub/Sub) architecture is a messaging pattern where message senders (publishers) do not send messages directly to specific receivers. Instead, publishers send messages to an intermediary called a topic, and interested receivers (subscribers) register to receive messages from that topic.

This pattern is foundational to modern distributed systems, enabling loose coupling, scalability, and asynchronous communication between services.

Pub/Sub Architecture Diagram

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Core Components

Publisher: Produces messages and sends them to a topic. Publishers are unaware of which subscribers exist.
Topic (Channel): A named category or feed to which messages are published. Acts as the intermediary.
Message Broker: The infrastructure component that manages topics, receives messages from publishers, and delivers them to subscribers.
Subscriber: Registers interest in one or more topics and receives messages published to those topics.

Pub/Sub vs Point-to-Point Messaging

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